585 – War between Lydia and Media ended by solar eclipse 1635 – Virginia Governor John Harvey accused of treason and removed from office 1686 – First volume of Isaac Newton’s “Principia” published 1914 – 181 die in coal mine collapse at Eccles, West Virginia 1924 – 119 die in Benwood West Virginia coal mine […]
Archives for April 2017
The Boys (and Girls) of Summer
The highly regarded P3 Baseball Program at Pier 40 is now accepting applications for its Summer Camp programs. The Baseball Camp (for boys and girls, aged five through 14) is offering seven weekly sessions, starting July 5 – 7 (the first week is three days only, because of the Independence Day holiday), with final session […]
The South Street Seaport Museum Begins Celebrating Fifty Years
The South Street Seaport Museum will begin a year-long observance of its 50th anniversary tomorrow, Saturday, April 29, with a day of festivities (from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm) that will include free admission to all of the Museum’s exhibits, Street of Ships: The Port and Its People, The Original Gus Wagner. The Maritime Roots […]
Governors Island Opens Early This Year
Governors Island, Lower Manhattan’s answer to Central Park, will open a month early this year, on Monday May 1. An all-too-brief ferry ride from the Battery Maritime Building (adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry terminal) brings you to the 172-acre island, with its shady lawns, historic forts, hammocks and picnic tables, gardens, goats and miniature […]
April 26
1478 – The Pazzi family attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral. 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of actual birth is unknown). 1607 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia. 1721 – A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian […]
Stage Fright
Downtown will get to keep a cultural mainstay that was slated to lose, thanks to the personal intervention of Julie Menin, the City’s commissioner of the Mayor’s Office and Media and Entertainment, who is also a former chair of Community Board 1. Soho Repertory Theatre (also knows as Soho Rep.) is a leading theater company […]
April 25
1449 – Anti-pope Felix V resigns 1507 – Geographer Martin Waldseemuller first used name America 1684 – Patent granted for thimble 1792 – Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas J Pelletier 1850 – Paul Julius Reuter, use 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices 1859 – Ground broken for Suez Canal 1861 – […]
Bullets Fly on Battery Place
Gunfire erupted near the corner of Battery Place and Washington Street shortly after local schools had let out on Monday afternoon. At least one innocent bystander, a woman in her 30s whose name has not been released, was wounded when a stray bullet struck her in the ankle. A second man sustained a gunshot wound […]
April 24
1184 BC – The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date). 1066 – Halley’s Comet sparks English monk to predict country will be destroyed 1800 – Library of Congress establishes with $5,000 allocation 1833 – Jacob Evert and George Dulty patent first soda fountain 1872 – Volcano Vesuvius erupts 1888 – Eastman Kodak […]
MIXING POLITICS AND ART
To the editor: On April 20, Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer provided another art show (opening) venue of a diverse group of talented artists in her offices at One Centre Street. This display and sharing with New Yorkers of creative talent is a rare visual statement by a political leader of her high regard for […]
The Larceny of the Commons
A new report from City Comptroller Scott Stringer finds that of 51 “privately owned public spaces” (POPS) located in Lower Manhattan, only eight are meeting legally required standards for public access, hours, or the availability of amenities such as artwork, lighting, furniture, plantings, drinking fountains, and bike racks. This represents a significant loss of value […]
April 21
753 BC – Romulus founds Rome (traditional date). 1898 – Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date. 1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred […]
Where Every Swing Is a Home Run
Among many signs of Lower Manhattan’s triumphant emergence as a thriving residential community, one is perhaps more compelling than any other: the Downtown Little League (DLL), which will celebrate its 25th Opening Day tomorrow (Saturday, April 22), is now the nation’s largest. With more than 1,000 kids organized into 80 teams, led by 250 coaches […]
April 19
AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso’s plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested. 1713 – With no living male heirs, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inherited by his daughter, Maria Theresa […]
Linda Belfer Remembered
To the editor, What a beautiful and devastating portrait on the passing of Linda Belfer. (BroadsheetDAILY April 17, Matthew Fenton) When I first moved to New York City, Battery Park City was my home for four years. I, too, was pushed out by Gateway’s rising rents, but while I lived there, I spent time with […]
How Bazaar
Lower Manhattan, with its historic streetscape, sweeping views, and robust access to transportation infrastructure, has long drawn more than its share of walks, runs, festivals, and fairs — all of which share one defining trait in common: They require the temporary closure of local streets. As Downtown has become ever more popular, more developed, and […]
April 18
1025 – Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. 1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid. 1775 – Paul Revere and William Dawes ride from Charleston to Lexington warning the “regulars are coming!” 1783 – Fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the […]
Farewell to a Feisty Friend
At what would turn out to be the midpoint of her life, a woman in her late 30s was seeking a new direction. Still grieving from the loss of the father with whom she shared a bond that she would never replicate, recently graduated from St. John’s Law School, and in the process of setting […]
April 17
1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells The Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date (in 1387) as the start of the book’s pilgrimage to Canterbury. 1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire […]
EYES TO THE SKY
Amateur astronomers are among the most knowledgeable and dedicated students of astronomy. True to the root of the word “amateur” (from the French and Italian ‘amatore,’ with its root in the Latin ‘amare,’ to love), they are, in my experience, eager to share their knowledge and love of the universe. For this purpose, amateur astronomy […]